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A Clone of My Own
"A Clone of My Own" is episode ten in Season Two of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on April 9, 2000. Plot Professor Farnsworth receives word from Mars University that they are revoking his professorship. When he arrives before the university's professors, he reveals all their secrets until he realizes it was his 150th birthday party. After everyone talks about how great he is, Farnsworth becomes concerned with his own mortality. He decides he needs to name a successor. The Planet Express crew expects one of them will be named, including Fry, but Farnsworth reveals that his successor will be a 12-year old clone of himself, Cubert Farnsworth. Cubert decides that being an inventor is not an appealing career choice, and makes cutting remarks about the Professor and his inventions. A depressed professor makes a recording telling his crew that he has been lying about his age. He is actually 160, the age when robots from the Sunset Squad take people away, never to be seen again. Under cover of an overly-dramatic thunderstorm, a hooded robot arrives, and takes the Professor away while he was saying good-bye to every inanimate object around him. The crew sets off to rescue the professor, and finds the Near Death Star, the Sunset Squad's base of operations. The crew sneaks in with Fry dressed up as the professor with Cubert on his back posing as a hump to make him look 'old'. They even brought a huge jar of Cubert's blood just in case. They locate the professor, who is unconscious and hooked to a life-support system. They try to carefully disconnect him, only for the robots discover the crew, forcing them to rip him off, and they race back to the Planet Express Ship, Professor Farnsworth in tow. As they reach the landing pad, Cubert is knocked unconscious, but they make it onto the ship in one piece. When the ship takes off, the robots open fire, damaging the engines. Hoping the Professor would help fix them, they try everything to wake him up. A reawakened Cubert announces that he knows how to fix the engines, and the crew makes their escape. (The dark matter engines don't move the ship, but instead move the universe, allowing the ship to go faster than the speed of light. Safely back on Earth, Cubert tells the Professor that he has decided to follow in his footsteps. The Professor describes his experience on the Near Death Star, as he was hooked up to a virtual reality where he had to do everything an old person would do. Characters *Cubert Farnsworth *Captain Muskie Professor Farnsworth's Inventions *A Time Machine *A Universal Translator, which can translate any language into, and only into, French, which is considered a dead language in the year 3000. Virus A made up virus which turned out to be real *Talking Hump Syndrome, THS. Cultural references *Captain Muskie's introduction music is a musical cue from the original Star Trek television series. His appearance and chair are based on that of Christopher Pike from the Star Trek episodes "The Menagerie" parts I and II. *The city scene in the initial seconds of film on Farnsworth life shows a billboard "Slurm, Medicinal Tonic". Likely a parody of the popular soft-drink Coca-cola, which had its origins as a medicinal remedy. *Birthplace of Farnsworth is mentioned as "Hell's Laboratory", likened to Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan in New York. *During the escape from the Near Death Star, the Bullet Time camera technique, which was heavily incorporated into the The Matrix movies, is used to pan around Planet Express ship for a climactic conclusion. *The Near Death Star and the crew's escape from it are both references to Star Wars. The way the old people are treated, and later further explained by the Professor is in reference to the virtual world in The Matrix. *Dr. Zoidberg remarks that he had once appeared on Showtime at the Apollo, as revealed in "Anthology of Interest I".) *Zoidberg makes a reference to Ringo Starr in one of his jokes. *It is revealed that the Planet Express ship moves in a manner similar to that described in the Warp Drives in the Star Trek series. *When Leela tries to smell the Professor, she smells "BendGay", a reference to Bengay which was also used by Bender in "Bendless Love." *During the summary of Farnsworth's time video, there is a picture of the professor with the note Dungeon Master and a wand. *The Sunset Squad Robot that comes for Farnsworth is a parody of the Grim Reaper. *The professor's gesture at the end of his holographic farewell is similar to Princess Leia's gesture at the end of her holographic message in Star Wars. *Cubert Farnsworth's name may be a reference to the video game character Q*Bert. Continuity *In this episode it is revealed that Professor Farnsworth is 160 years old. *This is the first time the Professor actually admits to "good news" being bad news. "Good news everyone! The University is bringing me up on disciplinary charges! Wait. That's not good news at all!" This is also the first time he says "Bad news everyone!" Goofs *During the scene when the Professor is showing Cubert his matter] engines from inside the ship, the engines labeled "left" and "right" are on the wrong sides of the ship. The "left" engine is on the left from the perspective of the Professor, but it is shown that he and Cubert are facing towards the rear of the ship. Production notes *In this episode Cubert is named as the professor's heir. However, in Anthology of Interest I it is revealed that if Leela were a little more impulsive she would have been named as his heir for being so impulsive. It's possible that the slightly more impulsive Leela triggered something that caused the professor to not choose Cubert as his heir. It's also possible Cubert did something that made the professor decide that he shouldn't be the heir. It is further possible that the professor simply forgot that he had already chosen Cubert as his heir. *The professor shows Cubert a Universal Translator device, which unfortunately translates to an "incomprehensible, dead language". Cubert says hello to the translator to test it, to which the translator responds, "Bonjour!" This could imply that the French language no longer exists in the Futurama timeline, despite being used on several occasions - for example, in the episode The Route of All Evil "Au revoir!" can be heard. *Cubert's role was originally intended to point out the inconsistencies and plot holes of the show, though the producers couldn't figure out a way to introduce him until Season Two, and this episode is the only one in which he took his intended role. Quotes Bender: And now a man who needs no introduction..(sits down)... Fry! Fry: When i was asked to make a video for my nephew Professor Farnsworth I asked "why should I?" and later Leela made one. But if I had made there would of been more topless women on motorcycles. Leela's Voice in the video: Fast Cars, Trendy Night Spots, Beautiful Women Professor Farnsworth made them all from his small one room apartment. Category:Season Two